The World Bank funding would enable 4.5 million rural students to continue education in secondary level annually.

Dhaka: The World Bank (WB) on Wednesday approved a total of US$390 million additional financing for two ongoing projects in the Bangladesh education sector, a WB press release said today.

Of the amount, US$265 million was approved for Secondary Education Quality and Access Enhancement Project and US$125 million for Higher Education Quality Enhancement Project. The two operations aim to support the government in sustaining its efforts to improve educational outcomes.

"Investing in education is investing in a country's future", said Johannes Zutt, World Bank Country Director for Bangladesh and Nepal while commenting on the benefit of the funding.

He said Bangladesh deserves praise for achieving gender parity in primary and secondary education, but more needs to be done to improve the quality of education, and to ensure that young people in hard-to-reach parts of the country also have access. These additional financings, through improving quality monitoring and also providing stipends to poor students, will contribute directly to these objectives, and indirectly to higher growth.

The US$ 265 million additional financing for the Secondary Education Quality and Access Enhancement Project would enable 4.5 million rural students to continue education in secondary level annually.

The additional financing will scale up activities within 125 current upazilas and in 90 additional upazilas to improve secondary education quality, systematically monitor learning outcome and ensure greater accountability at school level. The project will continue to provide poverty-targeted stipends and tuition to girls and boys to increase access and retention.

"The additional financing will continue to focus on rural areas, rural institutions and rural children," said Ayesha Vawda, World Bank Team Leader for Secondary Education Quality and Access Enhancement Project.

The US$125 million additional financing for Higher Education Quality Enhancement Project will continue to support initiatives to improve the quality and relevance of teaching and research in the country's higher education institutions.

The operation will continue to promote academic innovation in both public and private universities through a competitive funding mechanism, known as the Academic Innovation Fund. Moreover, the Academic Innovation fund would include an additional window to support stronger university-industry linkages to enhance employability's of the graduates.

"Higher education is important to improve youth employability and to boost Bangladesh's economy," said Yoko Nagashima, World Bank Team Leader for Higher Education Quality Enhancement Project.

The credit from the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank's concessionary arm, has 40 years to maturity with a 10-year grace period; it carries a service charge of 0.75 percent.